Ridge hood and ridge cover

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a ridge hood ( 10 ) made of metal which comprises at least one arch ( 21, 22, 23 ) extending across the longitudinal direction. At least one arch ( 21, 22, 23 ) is provided with at least one hole ( 31, 32 ).

This invention concerns a ridge hood made of metal and a ridge cover.

Such ridge hoods are common actually. They are used to keep plant vegetation from growing on roofs, or to get rid of them. Rainwater makes the metal give out ingredients, especially metal ions, from the ridge hood which are washed over the roof in form of salts or oxides. Since the ingredients are harmful to plant vegetation such as lichens, mosses and algae, they inhibit the growing of plants on the roof. This leads to a cleansing process, which means that the plant vegetation is removed from the tiles.

The DE 195 04 548 A1 and the DE 41 30 365 A1 describe self-supporting ridge hoods made out of copper. But there remains the problem of how to fix such ridge hoods securely on the roof. The DE 195 04 548 A1 suggests to attach the ridge hood with a sealing material, but this does not guarantee a strong hold.

The De 101 26 203 A1 describes a ridge hood the outer form of which is adapted to the form of a ridge tile and that is being fixed to a ridge tile. The ridge hood has a grated room, which serves as a moisture reservoir. Such ridge hoods are more costly to produce and have a unusual look to them because of the grate or grid.

The object of this invention is to create a ridge hood which can be fixed to the roof reliably and is easy to produce.

The subject matter of this invention is a ridge hood with the features of claim 1. The ridge hood according to the invention distinguishes itself through its special shape. It has at least one arch extending across the longitudinal direction. In at least one of the arches there is at least one hole. The position or arrangement of the arch/the arches has the effect that the ridge hood is stable in itself and shows tortional strength, that is, it does not bend, although it is made of a thin material, for example sheet copper. The ridge hood can be fixed on the roof as a self supporting part instead of ridge tiles, for example as a dry ridge or as a ridge. The ridge hood is fixed with nails or screws or similar fixing means, which extend through the holes and are securely anchored in the roof construction, for example in roof members like ridge tiles or hip tiles. The ridge hood according to the invention is easy to produce, easy to transport. It is further easily mounted on the roof, with little use of tools. The ridge hood according to the invention is therefore a simple and at the same time technically matured device.

A further subject matter of the present invention is a ridge cover comprising several ridge hoods according to the invention. The resulting ridge cover according to the invention is securely fixed on the roof and seals the roof as reliably as a state-of-the-art ridge cover, for example made of tiles. Furthermore, antennas and lightning conductors can be fixed on the ridge cover according to the invention in the same way and with the same equipment as with regard to state-of-the-art ridge covers.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are mentioned in the dependent claims.

In one embodiment, at least two, preferentially three arches are provided to further improve the stiffness of the ridge hood. Furthermore, there can be more than one hole in one arch. If there is only one hole in one arch, this hole should be in the middle of the highest point of the arch. It is further advantageous to provide two or more holes in each ridge hood to further improve the secure and reliable fixing to the ridge tiles.

In another embodiment the ridge hood is provided at one end with a terminal arch and/or at the other end with a bend-up collar. With differently shaped ends, the ridge hoods can be engaged in different ways during the mounting on the roof. This results in the formation of a reliably anchored ridge cover.

The ridge hood according to the invention is preferably made of copper, for example of copper sheet. Copper has been proved as very useful to prevent or inhibit plant vegetation on the roof. The manufacturing out of a metal sheet has the advantage, that the ridge hood can be manufactured by pressing which allows a cheap production even of high numbers of pieces.

The ridge cover according to the invention made of two or more ridge hoods is preferably securely fixed to the roof construction, preferably to the ridge tiles, with fixing means extending through the holes. The ridge cover is therefore held strongly and reliably. Preferred fixing means are plumber's screws because they usually are provided with sealing means, which can seal the holes against dirt and moisture. Additionally, the longitudinal sides of the ridge cover can be sealed as usual with roll-ridge-band or other suitable sealing materials.

It is further advantageous to seal the terminal first hoods against dirt and moisture by means of an end plate, for example made of copper sheet.

An embodiment of the present invention is further described with the following drawings.

FIG. 1: shows a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of a ridge hood according to the present invention;

FIG. 2: shows the ridge hood according to FIG. 1 viewed from the back;

FIG. 3: shows a cross-section along the line III-III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4: shows a schematic perspective view of the overlap area of two ridge hoods according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 5: shows a representation according to FIG. 3 with an end plate;

FIG. 6: shows a schematic top view of a copper sheet used to manufacture a ridge hood according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 7: shows a cross-section along the line VII-VII-in FIG. 1.

The embodiment of a ridge hood 10 according to FIGS. 1 and 2 is made of copper, but may consist of any suitable material out of which rainwater may dissolve substances capable to prevent or inhibit plant vegetation on roofs or show a cleansing effect, respectively. The ridge hood 10 according to the invention distinguishes itself by its shape. The embodiment shown in the figures comprises three arches 21, 22, 23 extending across the longitudinal direction. Two arches 21, 23 are each provided with one hole 31, 32 positioned in the middle of the highest point of each arch 21, 23. Die arches 21, 22, 23 may have, as shown in the embodiment, an approximately half-round cross-section; but they may also have other cross-sections such as trapezoid, bended or curved, triangular and so on.

The ridge hood 10 is made of a thin copper sheet (thickness 0.6 mm in the embodiment). Nevertheless, because of its shape with arches 21, 22, 23 it is stable in itself and it shows torsional strength, that is, it does not bend. It can be fixed on the roof as a self-supporting piece, instead of ridge tiles.

FIGS. 1 and 2 further show that the ends 11, 12 of the ridge hood 10 are shaped differently. The front end 11 shows an end arch 13, the rear end 12 shows a bend-up collar 14.

The shape of the ridge hood 10 as described above can also clearly be seen from the cross-section shown in FIG. 3. In this embodiment, the ridge hood 10 is made from a copper sheet with the sizes of 29×50 cm and a thickness of 0.6 mm. The ridge hood 10 is about 48 cm long an about 20 cm wide. The width of the end arch 13 is about 2.5 cm; the width of the archs 21, 22, 23 is about 3 cm. The bend-up collar 14 is about 0.5 cm wide.

The different shapes of the front end 11 and rear end 12 of the ridge hood 10 with an end arch 13 and a bend-up collar 14 respectively, is useful with regard to the assembly of two or more ridge hoods 10 during the mounting on a roof, as can be seen from FIG. 4. The end 12 of a first ridge hood 10 provided with a collar 14 joins the end 11 of a second ridge hood 10′ provided with an end arch 13. The end arch 13 overlaps the collar 14, so that the collar 14 engages the rear side of the end arch 13 and hooks in the end arch 13 and both ridge hoods 10, 10′ are firmly hooked.

The ridge hoods 10 according to the invention are mounted to a ridge cover by putting the ridge hoods 10 together on a ridge as described above, so that their front ends 11 and rear ends 12 are overlapping, respectively. Afterwards, each ridge hood 10 is fixed securely by anchoring for example plumber's screws through the holes 31, 32 in the ridge tiles. Plumber's screws are screws comprising a profiled washer and a sealing element, so that the sealing element lies on the hole 31, 32 of the ridge hood and the washer lies on the sealing element and underneath the screw head (not shown in the figures). Suitable screws are for example copper-plated high-grade steel screws with a 45×45 mm part thread. In this way, the holes 31 32 are sealed against dirt and moisture. For further sealing of the longitudinal sides of the resulting ridge cover against profiled roofing roll-ridge-band, brush caps or foamed elements may be used in the same way as they are used to seal the longitudinal sides of state of the art ridge covers made of tiles or concrete.

The terminal ridge hoods 10 which are situated at each end of the ridge cover should further be closed to avoid the penetration of dirt and moisture under the first hoods 10. To this purpose, each terminal ridge hood 10 is mounted so that the rear end 12 with the collar 14 rises in the open air at each end of the roof ridge. That means that two ridge hoods 10 are hooked together by overlapping their respective front ends 11 with the end archs 13 so that one end arch engages the other end arch. Another possibility is to mount two ridge hoods 10 having a flatly shaped end each so that the flatly shaped ends overlap. In the overlapping area a silicon sealing element may be positioned between the flatly shaped ends to make sure that the overlapping area is sealed.

The collar 14 of the free rear end 12 of each terminal ridge hood 10 can be engaged with an end plate 35 which may be made for example of copper sheet. The end plate 35 is provided with a rim which is adapted at the round shape of the collar 14 and which projects beyond the collar 14. The rim is bent over the collar to form a seam 36. The end plate 35 is fixed with at least one fixing means, for example a rivet 37, to the terminal ridge hood 10 (see FIG. 5).

Other measure to secure or to seal the ridge cover are not necessary.

The manufacture of the ridge hood 10 according to the invention may be carried out by using a cutting 40 made of copper sheet with the dimension of 50×29 cm (see FIG. 6). The cutting 40 is provided with holes 31, 32 and cutted corners 41 so that narrow stripes 42 are formed along the longitudinal borders of the cutting 40. This can be done for example with a template or rule. Afterwards, the narrow bands 42 are bent inwards so that the cutting 40 has a width of about 26 cm at its rear end 12 (this means that the bent part of the band 42 has a width of about 15 mm) and a width of about 28 cm at its front end 11 (that means that the bent part of the band has a width of about 5 mm). This results in a further increase of stiffness and possible injuries caused by the relatively sharp borders are avoided. Apart from that, ridge hoods 10 with front ends 11 and rear ends 12 having different diameters, respectively, are easier to overlap. Afterwards, the cutting 40, now formed like a conical plate, is pressed in the desired shape in a press (see FIG. 7). The cutting 40 should be placed in the press with the bent bands at the bottom. The prefabricated holes 31, 32 may be threaded on spikes which simultaneously may serve as fastening means for the cutting 40 during the pressing process.

By means of this simple process the ridge hood 10 according to the invention may be manufactured quickly and inexpensively. Furthermore, a great number of pieces can be manufactured. This process is suitable for automation.

The end plate 35 may be manufactured by using a copper sheet with a suitably shaped border adapted to the shape of the ridge hood 10. This can be done for example by means of a template or rule. The copper sheet is cut alongside the rounded border about 5 mm deep. The cuts have a distance of about 2 cm. The resulting teeth can be bent to one side, for example using flat jawed pliers, so that the end plate 35 can be hooked to the collar 14 of the ridge hood 10 and securely and immovably with for example three rivets. 

1. Ridge hood (10) made of metal, characterized in that it comprises at least one arch (21, 22, 23) extending across the longitudinal direction and that at least one hole (31, 32) is provided in at least one arch (21, 22, 23).
 2. Ridge hood according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises at least two, preferably three arches (21, 22, 23).
 3. Ridge hood according to claim 1, characterized in that two or more arches (21, 22, 23) are provided with at least one hole (31, 32) each.
 4. Ridge hood according to claim 1, characterized in that each arch (21,22,23) is provided with one hole (31, 32, 33) which is located in the middle of the highest point of the arch.
 5. Ridge hood according to claim 1, characterized in that one end (11) is provided with an end arch (13).
 6. Ridge hood according to claim 1, characterized in that one end (12) is provided with a bent-up collar (14).
 7. Ridge hood according to claim 1, characterized in that said ridge hood is made of copper.
 8. Ridge hood according to claim 1, characterized in that it is manufactured of a metal sheet (40), preferably a copper sheet.
 9. Ridge hood according to claim 8, characterized in that it is manufactured by pressing the metal sheet (40).
 10. Ridge cover for a roof construction, comprising two or more ridge hoods (10) according to one of the claims 1 to
 9. 11. Ridge cover according to claim 10, characterized in that the ridge hoods (10) are fixed in the roof construction, preferable in ridge tiles or hip tiles with fixing means, preferably plumber's screws, through the holes (31, 32).
 12. Ridge cover according to claim 10, characterized in that its longitudinal side is sealed with roll-ridge-band.
 13. Ridge cover according to claim 10, characterized in that the terminal ridge hoods (10) are provided with an end plate (35), preferably made of copper sheet.
 14. Ridge cover according to claim 10, characterized in that the end plate (35) comprises (35) a rim which projects beyond the collar (14) and is bent over the collar to form a seam (36). 